


this familiar feeling

by kagshina



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-11-29 18:04:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11446176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kagshina/pseuds/kagshina
Summary: “Oh, I know!” Hunk exclaims, shooting up from the couch. “I could fill his locker with flowers, and then when he opens it I’ll come up behind him and have a poster board with prom written on it in flower petals!”Pidge blinks, lacking the enthusiasm Hunk wants to see. It’s a great idea, and Lance would love it, so why—“How much money do you have right now?” Pidge asks, and for a second the question confuses him, and then he realizes the point she’s making and deflates, flopping back onto the couch.





	1. part one - hunk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So this is the first part of a collab I've been working on with [platonic voltron (lana)](https://platonicvoltron.tumblr.com/), and she doesn't have an AO3, but she wrote all of the parts in Lance's POV, so please go check out her tumblr. She has an amazing blog and she's a wonderful person.
> 
> Writing this with her has been a blast, and I'm so glad I got a chance to work with such a talented writer.

“Oh, I know!” Hunk exclaims, shooting up from the couch. “I could fill his locker with flowers, and then when he opens it I’ll come up behind him and have a poster board with prom written on it in flower petals!”

Pidge blinks, lacking the enthusiasm Hunk wants to see. It’s a great idea, and Lance would love it, so why—

“How much money do you have right now?” Pidge asks, and for a second the question confuses him, and then he realizes the point she’s making and deflates, flopping back onto the couch.

“Why does everything have to be so expensive?” He asks, throwing his head back in frustration. He’s been trying to think of a way to ask Lance to prom for the last week, and so far, all of his ideas are either too boring or too unrealistic.

“This is useless,” Hunk groans. “I’m never going to be able to come up with the perfect way to ask him.”

“It doesn’t have to be perfect,” Pidge tells him, but Hunk is unconvinced. This is their last year of high school. Hunk wants this to be something neither of them can ever forget. He wants it to be a special moment forever.

“But he deserves perfect,” Hunk says, and Pidge rolls her eyes.

“You guys are so disgustingly cute sometimes that it’s easy to forget you’re not actually dating.”

Hunk sinks further into the couch. “That’s why I want this to be perfect,” Hunk mumbles.

“What was that?” Pidge asks, and Hunk exhales loudly in response.

“I want to ask him out, at prom. Like officially. It’d be so romantic, you know, and Lance is a sucker for romance—”

“And you’re a sucker for Lance,” Pidge says matter of factly.

Hunk doesn’t even try to deny it. “Yeah,” he sighs. “Yeah, I’m a sucker for Lance.”

 

 

 

He’s sitting on his bed finishing up some homework he should have gotten done earlier when his phone lights up. He glances down at the screen to see Lance’s snapchat name, and he knows he should just ignore it for now, if it was anyone other than Lance he would, but he’s never been able to ignore Lance.

He sighs, dropping his pencil in favor of picking up his phone. He slides the notification to open the app, and then opens Lance’s snap.

It’s a picture of the side of his house with the caption “open your window”.

Hunk rolls his eyes, but he gets up and moves towards his window, opening it like the snap requested. Just as expected, Lance is at his own window, waiting.

Hunk holds up his phone and takes a picture, writing “what do you want?” before pressing send.

Thirty seconds later, his phone is ringing.

“What do you want?” Hunk asks, trying to bite back a grin.

“What makes you think I want something?” Lance shoots back, voice dripping with innocence that Hunk doesn't buy for a second.

“I should get going then,” Hunk says casually, “I’ve still got like an hour left of math homework, so I’ll see you tom—”

Lance sighs loudly on the other end of the phone. “Okay, fine, I want something.”

Hunk shakes his head, smiling. “You’re gonna ask if you can stay the night, right?”

“...Maybe.”

“ _Dude_ ,” Hunk starts, putting emphasis on the word. “You know you don’t even have to ask, right? Like, I’m pretty sure at this point that you could walk through our door at three in the morning and if you woke up my parents they’d just be like ‘oh hey Lance do you want a snack?’ and then go back to bed.”

“I love your parents,” Lance says, and Hunk can hear the smile in his voice.

“My parents love you too,” Hunk tells him, smiling.

“I’m still using your window though.”

Hunk’s smile drops, and he groans. “Laaancee,” he whines, “why do you always insist on coming in through the window? You could get hurt.”

“Because it’s _awesome_ , dude.”

“Injuries aren't awesome,” Hunk counters.

“I haven’t gotten injured yet,” Lance reminds him.

“That’s like asking for it to happen!” Hunk groans, sighing. There’s no reasoning with Lance.

“I’ll be fine, love you, see you soon,” and with that, Lance hangs up.

By the time Lance is crawling through his window, Hunk is back on his bed doing homework.

It isn’t until Lance leaps behind him on his bed that Hunk pauses his work, letting out a smile that he’d been attempting to repress.

He’s never been the best at hiding smiles when it comes to Lance.

“Are you gonna be sad when you can’t go through my window anymore?” Hunk asks, watching Lance make himself comfortable, settling into Hunk’s bed like it’s his own. He’s slept in it so many times that it probably feels as familiar as his own.

That’s just what happens when your best friend is also your next door neighbor.

Lance lets out a loud sigh. “I’ll be sad,” he says dramatically, “but then I’ll look one bed over and see you, and all my sadness will be gone.”

Hunk rolls his eyes, his smile growing. “I can’t believe we’re gonna be roommates.”

Lance smiles too, and then he drops his head onto Hunk’s shoulder, sighing again. This time, it sounds like a content sigh. “Dorming with my best friend in the entire universe, what more could I ask for?”

Hunk’s heart flutters, a familiar feeling, being around Lance so much and all.

Moments like these are why he needs to make his promposal perfect, because it feels like Lance is always making him smile, always making his heart beat faster, and he wants to do that for Lance. He wants to make Lance feel how he feels every day just by sitting next to him.

 

 

 

“Hey Pidge,” Hunk says the next morning, when they’re all sitting in the cafeteria before class starts. “I need to run something by you… for our math class. So we should work on that, over there…”

Pidge squints at him for a moment, and then she nods. “Of course, yeah, you know how much I love working on math in the morning.”

“Nerds,” Lance jokes, sticking out his tongue as they move over a table, leaving Keith and Lance alone. It’s funny to think there was ever a time when those two didn’t like each other, now that they’re all such close friends.

“Alright,” Pidge starts when they’re out of earshot. “What do you want?”

“I have a new idea,” Hunk tells her eagerly, leaning in for emphasis.

Pidge raises an eyebrow, curious. “What is it?”

“I can put together a bunch of photos we’ve taken throughout the year and make a video with them, and then at the end of the video it’ll be all ‘prom?’ and like, yeah. That’s the plan.”

Hunk stares at Pidge, who takes a moment before she smiles. “That’s cute.”

Hunk feels his shoulders drop with relief. She’s poked holes in all his other ideas, but not this one! That’s a win.

“Do you think he’ll like it?” Hunk asks, even though he already knows the answer to that question. His anxiety needs some sort of confirmation.

“I think he’ll love it,” Pidge answers, the corner of her lip pulled up, and Hunk feels his smile widening, his heart doing that ridiculous fluttering just at the thought of having an actual plan now.

“Thanks, Pidge,” Hunk says, letting out a small sigh of relief.

Pidge’s  smile grows, ever so slightly. “I didn't do anything.”

“You listened,” he tells her, because it’s important to have friends he knows he can come to with things like this, friends who will listen to his ideas and give him honest feedback.

 

 

 

Lance slings an arm over Hunk’s shoulder as they walk down the steps of their school, on their way home after a long day. Hunk’s been buzzing with excitement since this morning, thinking about his plan and how Lance will react.

He’s seen Lance smile a million times, and every time it sends a buzz through Hunk’s chest, some warm jolt. It’s a good feeling.

But there’s this certain smile, this smile that Lance saves for when he’s really, really happy, so happy that it feels like it’s radiating off him, that Hunk loves the most.

That’s the smile he wants to see when he asks Lance to prom.

He’s been the reason for that smile before, and it always makes his heart feel like it’s floating. It makes him feel… invincible, kind of.

“You seem happy,” Lance comments, a lopsided grin on his face.

Hunk gives his friend a smile. “I don’t have any reason not to be.”

“True,” Lance says, “After all, you are with me right now.”

Hunk shakes his head, smile growing soft as his eyes find the ground. He knows he’s blushing, but he doesn’t care.

Lance has seen him blush countless times, just as Hunk has seen Lance blush an even amount of times, and they’re far past the point where they try and hide it from each other.

They’re best friends, Hunk knows, but they’re also something else. His feelings— _their feelings_ —are an unspoken thing between them.

He’s not sure why they’ve never said it out loud, why they’ve never talked about something they both know exists.

Hunk thinks maybe it's fear.

It’s one thing for them to have feelings, it’s another thing entirely to acknowledge it, to do something about it, to put a new label on what they are.

But they can’t live in this weird bubble between friendship and dating forever, no matter how easy it is. Eventually, they have to talk.

Prom is the perfect chance to make that jump. It’s their last dance of high school, and it can be their first dance as a couple, their first night as something new.

Neither of them has brought it up yet, which is… nerve wracking. Last year, Lance was talking about prom months before it happened, making sure everyone in their group was going, including Keith, who’d taken some convincing.

This year, no one’s said a thing.

Or, that’s not entirely true. Hunk and Pidge have talked about it, but Lance and Hunk haven’t. Lance hasn’t mentioned it once.

That’s the only part of his plan that makes him nervous, the only part that throws him off.

There’s a week until prom and it hasn’t been brought up.

Hunk’s chest swirls with discomfort at that thought. He could have avoided this feeling, if he’d asked Lance sooner, but he needed to get this right.

Hunk bites down on his lip, an anxious habit. He’ll make the video tonight, and then tomorrow…

He feels his heart beat in his chest. It’s stupid to be nervous when he knows Lance will say yes, but Hunk has spent a lifetime being nervous about stupid things, and he’s not about to stop now.

He sighs internally, glancing at Lance as they walk.

Tomorrow.


	2. part one - lance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part was written by [lana](https://platonicvoltron.tumblr.com/), please leave nice comments for her! 
> 
> I was really excited when I read this chapter, and I hope you will be too.

"Lance, _please_ ," Allura says, as she flips from page 102 to page 103 of _Great_ _Expectations_. "You're not literally dying."  
  
It’s lunchtime at their school, and Lance is lying face down in a empty hallway while Allura sits against her locker, skimming through the last ten chapters of assigned reading.  "Shut up, you don't know me," Lance mutters. His voice is muffled by the floor, but he doesn’t bother to move. “Maybe I am dying.”   
  
"Well die faster, then, you're blocking the hallway," someone interrupts, and Lance looks up to see Keith’s customary smirk as he steps over him and takes a seat next to Allura.   
  
"Wow, _Keith_ , maybe I will. You know, this floor is probably really dirty. I probably have an _infection_ now, thanks to you guys. Shouldn't you be telling me to get up?"  
  
"Sorry-" Allura doesn’t look up from her book- "not my job. If Hunk were here-"  
  
If Hunk were here, Lance thinks, this wouldn't even be a question, because Hunk would take one disgusted look at the floor and say "Really?", followed by a sigh and "Come _here_ ", and Lance would follow in an instant, jumping up off the floor just so he could sit next to Hunk, and rest his head on Hunk's shoulder, and look into Hunk's eyes, and-  
  
"Dude, if Hunk were here, they'd end up like, cuddling on the floor or some shit anyways," says Keith. Allura laughs, and Lance tries to bury himself deeper into the floor to hide his blush. “Good thing Hunk and Pidge are at science club.”

“It’s  _ robotics _ ,” Lance interrupts.

Keith just waves an arm and continues, "Seriously, man, when are you gonna ask him out to prom?"   
  
"Soon!" Lance says defensively, rising an inch off the floor. "Well," he slumps back down, "as soon as I figure out how to ask him."   
  
Allura sighs, closing her book. "Lover boy here wants it to be _special_ , so he's been bouncing shitty ideas off me all day. Most of them involve memes from 2007 or Rick Astley songs."   
  
Keith shudders. “Wow. Uh. That’s a start?” 

A bad start, Lance thinks. A horrible start, really. The worst start anyone has ever started. Like worse than the worse start you could ever possibly start. 

“Lance?” Someone, probably Keith, pats his head. “You’ll be okay.” 

Yeah, alright, maybe he’s being bit dramatic. Maybe he will be okay. After he  _ literally dies _ . 

 

 

 

It’s 7PM now and Lance is still alive, so that seems like a good omen. 

He is, however, bored out of his mind. He decided to get his math homework out of the way as soon as he could -  _ shoutout to Pidge and the creator of FaceTime _ , he thinks - and he accidentally read ahead in his English book - meaning he couldn’t put it down and finished it last week - so he’s pretty much just been sitting on his phone all day. 

“ _ Lance _ ,” his mom laughs, after he asked her if she needed help around the house for the seventh time that night. “Why don’t you go hang out with Hunk or something?” Seeing Lance’s face drop, she pauses. “Or… not? Is there a problem between you two?”

Lance blushes. “No, it’s just… I’m kinda thinking about asking him to prom, and I don’t really know how to do it? So I’ve just been avoiding the whole question until I think of something good enough, and that’s not, uh-”

“Not working?” 

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t you go spend some time with him?” she suggests. “Maybe you’ll think of something while you’re with him.” 

It’s a better idea than staying at home and playing on his phone, so he nods and thanks his mother, and twenty minutes later he’s outside Hunk’s house, shivering slightly as he waits for Hunk to hurry up and open his window. 

He hears movement above him and two seconds later there’s a message on his phone from Hunk. If his smile gets a little wider just from seeing Hunk’s name light up his screen, then so what, no one here’s to judge him. Except maybe Hunk, who’s looking down at him expectantly.  _ Right _ , Lance should be calling him by now. 

He picks up on the first ring. “What do you want?” Hunk asks, and Lance can hear the smile in his voice even if he can’t see it. 

“What makes you think I want something?” Probably not the best time to start teasing, but Lance can’t help it. Being around Hunk just gives him energy, makes him want to laugh and joke and tease and have fun. 

Besides, Hunk can be just as bad as he is. He’s calling Lance’s bluff, talking about how he has  _ hours _ of math homework and he  _ has  _ to get going, so Lance gives in and says, “Okay, fine, I want something.” 

“You’re gonna ask if you can stay the night, right?” Hunk asks. He’s definitely smiling this time. 

_ You beautiful, smug butterfly _ , Lance thinks, but he laughs and says, “...Maybe”. 

“Dude, you know you don’t even have to ask, right? Like, I’m pretty sure at this point you could walk through our door at three in the morning and if you woke up my parents they’d just be like ‘oh hey Lance, do you want a snack?’ and then go back to bed.” 

It’s probably true. “I love your parents.” 

Hunk just replies, “My parents love you too,” and Lance has to change the subject before he starts tearing up over how much that means to him. 

He ends up climbing through the window into Hunk’s room, despite the other boy’s protests, and takes up a spot on Hunk’s bed as if it belonged to him. Which is a nice thought. 

They spend the next few hours comfortably, switching between easy conversation and familiar silence as Hunk finishes up his work. They talk about the future, how they’ll dorm together in college and how every night will feel like a sleepover night, and Lance can’t help but think that he’s the luckiest guy on the planet. 

He doesn’t come up with any promposal ideas, but he’s happy, and Hunk’s happy, and that’s all that matters.

 

 

 

At least, that was all that mattered to Last Night Lance. Next Morning Lance, who’s sitting around a cafeteria table with his friends, glaring a poster that reads, “ONLY ONE WEEK UNTIL PROM, BUY YOUR TICKETS TODAY”, would beg to differ. In fact, he’s about to start cursing Last Night Lance in his head when Hunk suddenly breaks the silence. 

“Hey Pidge,” Hunk starts, somewhat hesitantly, “I need to run something by you… for our math class… so we should work on that, over there…” 

“Of course, yeah, you know how much I love working on math in the morning,” Pidge mumbles, but her sarcasm is weakened by the fact that she gets up to go with Hunk anyways. 

_ He’s so dedicated _ , Lance thinks, but he just sticks out his tongue playfully and shouts “Nerds!” as the two walk over to another table. 

Keith, who had been quietly picking at his cafeteria breakfast before, barely waits two seconds before turning towards Lance with a grin. “So how’s the whole promposal thing going?”

Lance’s face drops. “Uh, Next question.”

“Wait, wait,” Keith laughs, “you still can’t think of anything? What about all those like, meme ideas or whatever?”

“I don’t know, they just all felt-” Lance waves his arms around in place of an adjective- “you know?”

Keith blinks. “... Not really. I mean,  _ I _ thought they were kinda cringy, but you and Hunk love that stuff. So what’s the issue?” 

“I don’t know,” Lance sighs. “Allura said to focus on what I’m good at, and I think- I think I’m good at making him laugh, and I  _ like _ to make him laugh, so there shouldn't be an issue. But it- I don't know, everything just feels wrong.” 

Keith nods, idly stabbing at his pancake with a spork. "I don't know, man. You've been making him laugh for years." He shrugs. "Maybe it’s time for something different. Something... special."    
  
Lance stares at Keith's plate as the other boy eats, but his brow furrows slightly. "Yeah... yeah okay." He glances up. "Keith?"    
  
"Mmpfh?"    
  
"You’re stabbing that pancake in cold blood. Have some compassion.” 

  


 

The school day passes slowly and uneventfully, but Lance finally makes it to his last class. He’s sitting near the back, absentmindedly picking at the chipped corner of his desk. He’s vaguely aware that he should be paying attention to his teacher right now - he hears the word  _ quiz _ and chooses to ignore it - but there are more important things to focus on. All day long, his thoughts have kept drifting back to the conversation he had earlier with Keith. 

Keith told him that he’s always trying to make Hunk laugh, and he was right. That’s how their relationship works. Lance cracks a joke, Hunk laughs. Maybe he jokes back, maybe he rolls his eyes, maybe he changes the subject. Lance pushes it further - he winks and flirts and toes the edge of friendship, but he’s never brave enough to cross over. And Hunk… Hunk pushes right back, or worse, he’s not even fazed, and he just _ smiles  _ at Lance with that look in his eyes, and Lance feels horribly in love. 

And then Lance backs off. Maybe he laughs, maybe he rambles, maybe he makes another joke. And if he’s lying awake 1AM that night, thinking about that look in Hunk’s eyes - the one that tells him that Hunk knows, that he understands what Lance feels and he gets it, he feels it too - then that’s his own fault. 

But that’s all going to change now, because Lance has a promposal plan. 

_ Okay, maybe like, half a promposal plan,  _ Lance thinks, quickly correcting himself.  _ A promposal idea, really.  _

True, he doesn’t have many of the details planned out yet, but he is certain of one thing: it’s not going to be funny or entertaining, or  _ cute _ . It’s going to be serious, and  _ real _ . It needs to be. 

He’s not going to use any jokes or memes, or Rick Astley songs _.  _ He’s going to show Hunk what this prom date really means to him, and what  _ Hunk  _ really means to him, both as a friend and as more. 

All he needs a little bit of courage - and a lot of poster paper. 

 

 

 

They’re walking home from school, just the two of them. 

Lance looks over at Hunk, who’s been lost in his own thoughts, and smiles. “You seem happy.” 

“I don’t have any reason not to be,” Hunk replies. 

“True. After all, you are with me right now.” 

Hunk doesn’t respond. He just smiles and gets that look in his eyes, and Lance feels horribly,  _ horribly  _ in love. 


	3. part two - hunk

Hunk feels a little nauseous as he gets ready for school the next morning, which is what always happens when he gets nervous about things, and, well, he gets nervous about things a lot. 

He grabs the drive with the video from his desk so he can put it in his backpack, and that’s when a new idea hits him. 

Before he can think twice about it, he’s typing out a text to Lance telling him he can’t walk to school this morning and then dialing Pidge’s number. She picks up on the second ring. 

“Pidge! Hey! Are you are school yet?” He asks, words rushed. 

“I just got here,” she tells him, “Why?” 

“Can you meet me at the flower shop down the street?  _ Please _ ?” He asks, biting down on his lip as he waits for an answer.

Pidge sighs loudly. “I  _ guess _ I can do that,” she says, and then she laughs softly. “Are you there now?” 

“I’ll be there in five minutes,” he assures her, and then he’s hanging up and rushing out the door, to his car. He only ever drives to school if he’s running late, or now, if he has to make a quick stop at a flower shop before asking his crush to prom. 

“So you decided to go with flowers after all?” Pidge asks when Hunk meets her in the shop. 

“Blue roses,” Hunk says, “That’s his favorite color, and I know he likes flowers.” He finds himself smiling. “And just one bundle is actually affordable, so.”

Pidge nods slowly, walking through the shop. “When are you going to ask him?”

“During lunch,” Hunk tells her, and thinking about how soon that is makes the nerves from this morning return. 

They’ve been best friends for so long, and they’ll  _ always _ be best friends, that’s not going to change, but now they’re going to be something else, too, and that’s scary. 

“It’s going to be okay,” Pidge says, and Hunk jumps, his hand finding its way to his hair. 

“I know, I’m just, ah, you know?”

Pidge laughs at his lack of explanation. “I don’t really know, but I’m happy for you guys.” 

Hunk’s smile grows, and he’s about to thank her when he catches sight of the flowers in front of them.

“There!” He says, pointing to the blue roses, feeling a strange combination of excitement and anxiety. 

He grabs a bundle of the flowers, pausing for a moment as he looks at them. He’s not sure about a lot of things in life, but he’s always been sure about Lance. 

He couldn’t imagine a life without him, and he doesn’t have to. They’re going to the same college, and while neither of them know exactly where their lives are headed after that, they know they won’t lose each other. 

“This is really happening,” Hunk whispers into the flowers, chewing on his lip. 

Pidge doesn’t say anything, just lightly nudges him with her shoulder, the corner of her lip pulled up slightly in support. 

Pidge doesn’t always know what say, but she’s always been there for him, always tried to support him however she could. 

He really lucked out in the friend department. 

 

 

 

There’s ten minutes of class left until the bell rings and lunch starts. 

Ten minutes until Hunk asks Lance to prom. 

_ Ten minutes _ . 

Hunk is trying to pay attention to what’s happening on the board, but his heart is starting to beat ridiculously fast and his stomach keeps fluttering and now there’s only nine more minutes left of class and—

Breathe. He needs to breathe. 

Hunk exhales quietly, dropping his head onto his desk for a moment. The flowers he bought this morning are currently sitting in his car, and the drive with the video is safely in his backpack. 

His eyes jump from the board to the clock, and he’s stuck between wishing time would move faster and wishing it would slow down. 

A few more minutes pass, and then a few more after that, and then the teacher is rushing to explain their homework and the bell is ringing.

Hunk shoves his school work into his bag, rushing out the door and towards his car so he can grab the flowers. 

The moment Lance sees them he’s going to know what they mean. 

Hunk swallows, rubbing his hands against his jeans before opening the car door, leaning in to grab the flowers. 

_ He’s got this _ , he tells himself, sucking in his nerves as he makes his way to the cafeteria. He stops in his tracks when he finally gets there, seeing Lance from a distance. He’s laughing at something, and it makes Hunk’s heart hurt, because even though he can’t hear it from where he is, he’s heard the sound so many times before he can imagine it in his mind. 

His grip on the flowers tighten as he takes a step forward, and then another, and then another, and then before he knows it Keith is looking up, eyes widening when he sees the flowers in Hunk’s hands. Lance has his back to Hunk, but that doesn’t last much longer, Lance’s gaze following Keith’s until it lands on Hunk. 

A smile starts to fill his face, and then he catches sight of the flowers in Hunk’s hands, and his expression changes to surprise, mouth hanging slightly open. 

And then, Lance says something he’s not prepared for. “Don’t say anything!” 

Hunk blinks. “Wha—” 

“Not here,” Lance says, hurrying out of his seat. Hunk’s anxiety is sky rocketing, he can hear his heart in his ears, and he has absolutely no idea what’s happening. 

“What are we doing?” Hunk asks, and his voice comes out clearer than he thought it would.

“Going somewhere else,” Lance tells him, which isn’t much of an explanation, but it’s enough for Hunk to process that Lance is leaving without his backpack, and by doing so, leaving without his computer, which is needed for Hunk’s promposal. 

“Wait,” Hunk says, and Lance pauses. “Bring your backpack.”

Lance hesitates for a moment, seeming confused, and then he grabs his backpack and starts moving again. Hunk follows, no clue where he’s being lead to.

When they finally stop, they’re at Lance’s locker, and Lance is slightly breathless. “I’m sorry I stopped you,” Lance gets out as he opens his locker, pulling out multiple pieces of paperboard. Hunk’s eyes widen. 

“It’s kind of crazy, right? That we both had the same idea. And we both decided to do it on the same day, and oh man,” Lance sticks the paperboard between his legs and then grabs hold of Hunk’s free hand. “Feel my heart, it’s beating so fast right now.” 

Hunk is still, hand on Lance’s chest, feeling his heartbeat. And then, before he can stop himself, he bursts into laughter. Lance starts laughing too, and they probably look ridiculous to anyone who passes by, both laughing, Hunk still with his hand on Lance’s chest. But he doesn’t care how they look to anyone else. 

_ Lance is asking him to prom.  _

That’s why they’d never talked about prom before now, because they’d both been planning a surprise, but the more Hunk thinks about it, the more he starts to think it’s not that surprising at all. It’s just them. 

Hunk’s hand drops to his side as Lance closes his locker and removes the poster board from between his legs. “You can ask first,” he starts, “since you were going to ask now anyway. I was planning to ask you after school, but now with this, and yeah…” Lance trails off, a light blush visible on his cheeks. 

“Oh wait!” Lance starts again, making Hunk jump, “Not here,” he says, grabbing hold of Hunk’s hand and leading him through the hallway. They stop in front of a classroom, only pausing so Lance can peak inside, and then he’s opening the door and pulling them both in. 

Lance leads him further into the room, stopping at one of the desks near the back of the class. “I was sitting here when I realized I had a crush on you,” Lance tells him, a soft smile on his lips. 

“Freshman year…” Hunk says, remembering when they were both in this room together. “I sat in front of you. We always got in trouble for talking.” 

Lance nods, his smile growing. “Do you remember when I would throw paper at your back to get your attention?” 

“Yes,” Hunk says, trying to contain his happiness. They haven’t even gotten to their promposals yet and he already feels like he’s going to burst on the spot. 

“High school wouldn’t have been half as fun without you,” Lance tells him, and somehow, Hunk’s smile manages to grow bigger, and it’s beginning to hurt a little. He doesn’t mind. 

“Get out your computer,” Hunk says suddenly, moving toward one of the desks. He sets the flowers on the desk and grabs his drive from his backpack, turning around to see Lance pulling out his laptop, a confused expression on his face. 

Hunk can feel his nerves trying to come back, but right now he’s too full of adrenaline to give them much attention. 

“Put this in your computer,” Hunk says, scooting his chair closer to Lance’s, so that they’re sitting next to each other, and Hunk can watch Lance’s expression while he plays the video. 

“Oh my god,” Lance starts when he opens the drive folder. “Did you make me a video?” 

Hunk bites down on his lip, trying to keep a smile from taking over. “Maybe. Guess you’ll have to watch it to find out.” 

Lance hovers over the video, glancing at Hunk once more before clicking it, eyes glued to the screen as it plays. 

Photos from their four year of high school fill the screen, one after the next, all the moments between them they have documented. Hunk watches Lance, who’s staring at the screen so intently, it kind of looks like he’s about to cry, and that makes Hunk want to cry. A video starts playing, from when they were in a play together, and then another, and then another, and then Lance  _ is _ crying as the word “PROM?” is shown on screen. 

“Dude,” Lance says through sniffs, “I love you. Oh my god, I love you. This is like, probably the best thing anyone has ever done for me and,” instead of finishing that sentence, Lance throws his arms around Hunk, letting out a few more tears. 

Hunk can feel tears swelling up in his eyes, his pure joy over Lance’s reaction. “I love you, too,” Hunk tells him, running a hand through Lance’s hair a few times.

Lance stays there for a few moments, and when he pulls away from Hunk’s embrace, he’s no longer crying. Instead, he has the biggest smile on his face. It’s so bright and beautiful and exactly what Hunk was hoping he’d see. 

“To answer your question....” Lance trails off, grabbing the poster board he’d set down on one of the desks. 

Lance presses a button on his phone, and then there’s music playing, and it doesn’t take long for Hunk to recognize the song as Better Together by Jack Johnson. It’s the song they danced to together during their first high school dance.

Lance holds up the first poster board, and written on it is, “ **_Hey Hunk :D_ ** ”. Hunk lets out a breath, his smile reaching his eyes. 

Lance moves the first poster board to the back, showing the second one, which reads, “ **_Did you know??? :O_ ** ”. Hunk finds himself laughing softly, shaking his head in amusement at the gasping face. 

Lance grins at him, slowly going through the signs, giving Hunk a chance to get a good look at each of them. 

**_That uhhhhhhh :P_ **

**_You look super cute today!_ **

**_I know, I know, how did I know what you would look like today?_ **

**_Easy._ **

**_You always look cute._ **

**_Hunk, you’ve been such a good friend to me_ **

**_And I don’t really know how to tell you how much you mean to me_ **

**_But I’ll try my best_ **

**_Because I need you to know that I admire you_ **

**_And appreciate you_ **

**_And respect you so much_ **

**_And that I love the feeling of standing next to you_ **

**_And that sometimes I can’t breathe when you smile_ **

**_Because you’re so perfect and I don’t know what to do_ **

**_You deserve something perfect, Hunk_ **

**_And that’s what I want to give to you_ **

**_Hunk, will you go to prom with me?_ **

By the time Lance shows the last sign, Hunk can barely see through his tears. He’s smiling and crying and he’s so happy that he doesn’t know how to contain it, and he doesn’t  _ have  _ to contain it because Lance seems just as happy and this day is going better than he ever could have imagined. 

Hunk starts nodding, and now he’s the one leaning in for a hug, his arms squeezing tightly around Lance. “Yes, yes, of course, yes I’ll go to prom with you, it’s going to be the best night ever. I love you, thank you for this.” 

He knows he’s blabbering, but he also knows Lance doesn’t mind. Lance has never minded. 

They stay hidden in the classroom for a few more minutes, Hunk wiping away his tears so that he can walk through the hall without red streaks down his face. Although, in all honesty, he’s too happy to really care. 

“Thank you,” Lance whispers before they pull apart, and Hunk is about to say it back when he remembers the flowers. 

He grabs them from the desk and then holds them out to Lance, his smile as big and bright as ever despite his sore cheeks. “Best friends forever, yeah?” 

Lance nods, his smile just as big and bright as Hunk’s. “Best friends forever.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter is written so it'll be posted soon!
> 
> Freedback and comments are greatly appreciated. <3


	4. Chapter 4

"Okay, Operation I Love Hunk is about to launch. Are you in place?"

"You mean the parking lot? Yeah. I'm heading over to your car."

"Okay, cool, I see you." Lance watches as Keith makes his way through the lot, impatiently weaving in and out of traffic and cutting in front of cars about to pull into their spaces. The sound of angry drivers follows in his wake. "Uh, Keith, buddy, I know you love parking lot fights, but now is not the time."

The comment, much like the angry drivers, is ignored. "I'm almost there. Keith out."

“Alright, copy that. Lance out." And with that, Lance ends the call. He leans back in his seat and tries to takes a deep breath, but at this point he's practically buzzing with adrenaline. _This is it_ , he thinks. _Today’s the day_.

Today is the day that Lance asks Hunk Garrett, his best friend, crush, and possibly soulmate, out to prom.

_Wow._

Luckily, Lance is saved from properly freaking out over that thought by the sound of knocking on the passenger-side window of his car. He looks over to see Keith's face pressed against the glass, and promptly unlocks the door. Keith hops inside.

“You got the posters done?” Keith asks, cutting straight to business.

Lance nods, gesturing towards the backseat. “They’re all back there. There’s like nineteen or something, so try to keep the posters in order. And make sure to roll them up and use rubber bands instead of folding them. They can’t get bent. Or dirty. Or lost! Or stolen?? Or confiscated by campus security and shoved into a locker with other contraband??!!?”

“ _Relax_.” Lance looks over to find Keith smirking at him, but his smile softens into something a little more sympathetic when he sees the genuine worry on Lance’s face.

"Seriously, it’s fine,” Keith continues, “I already brought a trash bag so the posters won’t get dirty. Look-” he reaches into his backpack- “it’s the shit with the handles!”

Lance can’t help but laugh. “Okay, yeah… that actually works really well. Thanks, Keith.”

“You’re welcome,” Keith says, grabbing the stack of paper from the back of the car.

Lance takes a deep breath, trying to relax, but watching Keith hide the posters away makes all of his anxiety rush back to him. “Okay, I know we went over this like 10 times yesterday, but can we run through the plan again?”

“The plan?” Keith pauses for a moment to think. “Don’t worry, man, I’ve got this. First, you give me the posters, which you just did. Then, you go find Hunk and keep him away from the hallway, while I hide the posters in your locker. Then, you and I try to stick with Hunk for the rest of the morning to make sure he doesn’t go grab something from your locker and accidentally find the posters. Then, uh, after school, I ask Hunk to wait with me while I ask our teacher a question, and when Allura texts me that you’re ready, I’ll bring Hunk over to that English room, where you’ll be waiting.” He turns towards Lance expectantly. “How was that?”

“Phenomenal,” Lance says, feeling a rush of gratitude towards his friend. “You’re the greatest, Keith.”

Keith just laughs. “You’re welcome.”

 

 

 

 

The first phase of Operation I Love Hunk works out perfectly. Lance gets to walk to his first class with Hunk like any other day, and right before the bell rings, he gets a text from Keith confirming that the posters are in his locker. After that, Lance feels considerably less nervous.

In fact, now that he’s not worrying about something going wrong in the set-up, Lance is getting excited all over again. He spends most of English picturing how Hunk will look when he asks him, and most of science imagining what Hunk will say, and then most of math wondering which one of them is going to be the first to start crying.

Lance is about to move on to a new topic- _did Hunk see it coming?_ \- when the lunch bell rings and forces him back to reality. He can’t be mad, though. Lunch means that he doesn’t have to daydream about Hunk anymore; he can actually see Hunk.

That is, if he can find Hunk first. Normally Hunk’s one of the first people in his group to get to their lunch table, but when Lance enters the cafeteria, he doesn’t see Hunk anywhere. He does, however, see Keith, and heads over to join him.

The first thing Keith asks when he sees Lance sit down next to him is, “What are you smiling about?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Lance says absently, resting his chin in his hands and glancing over at the cafeteria entrance. He’s definitely smiling.

“Let me guess, you’ve been daydreaming about Hunk all day?”

“Only _most_ of the day, actually. Probably like three-fourths.”

“Not helping your case, Lance.”

Lance laughs and turns to look at Keith, but Keith’s gaze shifts past him, his eyes widening as he catches sight of something towards the cafeteria entrance. Lance quickly turns to look, breaking into a smile when he sees none other than Hunk.

Hunk, who’s walking towards them very cautiously, as if he were nervous.

Hunk, who’s staring at Lance like he’s the only person in the entire school that matters right now.

Hunk, who’s carrying a bouquet of the prettiest blue flowers Lance has ever seen in his entire life, which can only mean one thing, because why else would Hunk be bringing him flowers if Hunk wasn’t about to ask him out to prom?!

The realization hits Lance all at once, and he hears himself shouting, “Don’t say anything!” as he jumps out of his seat. “Not here,” he adds quickly, seeing the confusion on Hunk’s face.

“Wait,” Hunk interrupts, looking somewhat recovered from his initial panic, “bring your backpack.” Lance can’t think of why he would need that, but at this point he doesn’t question it, just swings his backpack over shoulders before grabbing Hunk’s hand and pulling him towards the hallway.

Neither of them speak as Lance rushes them towards his locker. He’s vaguely aware that he should be saying something to Hunk right now, giving him at least a small shred of context, but his brain is currently trying to process a whole series of emotions at once and he can’t think of anything except getting those posters for Hunk.

By the time they reach his locker, Lance is breathless and full of energy, and he’s finally processed his emotions enough to say, “I’m sorry I stopped you,” as he opens up his locker and pulls out all of the posters. “It’s kind of crazy, right?” he continues, because _of course_ he has to start rambling right now. “That we both had the same idea. And we both decided to do it on the same day, and oh man, ohhh man...” His heart feels like it’s beating out of his chest, so he reaches over to grab Hunk’s hand and press it against his chest. Lance already shows Hunk everything about his life; everything in his life with Hunk; it makes sense that he would show him his heart.

He locks eyes with Hunk for the first time since leaving the cafeteria, the silence hanging in the air as he waits to see how Hunk will react. Hunk’s head dips down slightly, and his shoulders begin to shake, and for a second Lance is afraid that he screwed everything all up, but then the sound of quiet laughter reaches his ear and he sees Hunk look up with the brightest smile beaming from his face. And suddenly Lance is laughing too, as though he were a fool to think that his plan could have turned out in any other way. They were asking each other out to prom at the same time. Of course they were.

“You can ask first,” Lance says, still laughing a little, “since you were going to ask now anyway. I was planning to ask you after school, but now with this, and yeah…” He pauses suddenly, remembering his original plan. “Oh wait! Not here.” He grabs Hunk’s hand again, but this time, as he leads his friend into a nearby classroom and continues towards the desks in the back, both of them are struggling to contain their smiles.  
“I was sitting here when I realized I had a crush on you,” Lance explains, gesturing towards one of the desks in the back corner.

Hunk understands immediately. “Freshman year…” he whispers, tracing his head gently over the back of the chair. “I sat in front of you. We always got in trouble for talking.”

Lance smiles, his eyes fixed on Hunk as the other boy stares at the desk in front of him, like he could see the very memories of their friendship playing out before his eyes. “Do you remember when I would throw paper at your back to get your attention?”

“Yes,” Hunk says quietly.

“High school wouldn’t have been half as fun without you.”

Hunk looks up suddenly, locking eyes with Lance. “Get out your computer.”

Lance does as ordered, finally understanding why he needed to bring his backpack, and once he gets his computer set up on the desk, Hunk hands him a small drive and tells him to put it in.

“Oh my god,” Lance says softly, his breath catching in his throat when he opens the drive’s folder on his computer. “Did you make me a video?”

“Maybe. Guess you’ll have to watch it to find out.”

Lance takes a deep breath and glances at Hunk, his eyes already threatening to tear up before the promposal even starts. He clicks on the video.

The very first image to appear is a photo from freshman year, a random selfie that Lance had probably insisted they take. Both of them look so young, and Lance feels all at once like everything and nothing has changed since then. And then the photo is gone, replaced by a picture of them at their first high school dance, Hunk’s arm slung over Lance’s shoulder. Lance’s suit is a little too big for him, and Hunk’s is a little too short, but neither of them seem to care in the photo. And then that’s gone too, replaced by more and more high school memories, from freshman year through senior. There’s a particular photo that stands out to him, one of Lance and Hunk sitting side by side against their lockers. It must have been taking by someone else- probably Pidge, considering how fast she is with her camera- because Lance is resting his head against Hunk’s shoulder, and Hunk is leaning into him, his eyes glancing down at their almost intertwined hands. Something about the look in Hunk’s eyes, tender and longing and a bit terrified, causes all the tears that Lance didn’t even know were building up to overflow.

By the time the video ends, with a single word left suspended on the screen, Lance’s face is streaked with tears.“Dude…” he whispers. Hunk stays silent, staring at his face.

Lance pauses, trying to steady his breath, and shakes his head slightly in awe. “I love you…. Oh my god, I love you,” he gushes. “This is like, probably the best thing anyone has ever done for me and-” he pulls Hunk into for a tight hug, hoping to better convey his feelings. Hunk hugs him back, and Lance feels a hand run through his hair couple of times.

“I love you, too,” he hears Hunk whisper.

After a couple of minutes, Lance pulls away, wiping the last tears from his eyes before reaching for the stack of posters lying on the desk. He grabs his phone too, pulling up a song from their first dance together in high school, and once it starts playing, Lance is holding the posters up and showing Hunk the first one.

He flips through each one slowly, nervously watching Hunk’s reaction. Hunk smiles at first, laughs slightly at one point, and then his eyes soften and tear up, and by the last poster Hunk is as much of a teary mess as he was.

“Yes, yes, of course, yes I’ll go to prom with you, it’s going to be the best night ever,” Hunk says, pulling Lance into another hug. “I love you, thank you for this.”

Lance hugs him back just as tightly, and the two of them stay wrapped in each other for a while, just laughing and crying and whispering “I love you”. Lance wants to stay like this forever, but after a couple of minutes they’ve gotten most of it out of their system, and the tears have dried enough to make them presentable, so Lance gives Hunk one last squeeze before starting to pull away.

“Thank you,” he says, whispering as though they were still inches from each other.

Hunk doesn’t respond immediately, just reaches for the bouquet of flowers he had left on the desk.

He holds the flowers out to Lance, and when he speaks it sounds like both a question and a promise. “Best friends forever, yeah?”

Lance smiles. “Best friends forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter took so long to post, that's all on me. It's been written I just haven't gotten around to posting it until now. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much to everyone for reading this! Working with Lana was amazing, please send her some love for this chapter.


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